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URL: https://willitrunai.com/can-run/qwen-3-30b-a3b-on-m2-ultra-64gb

⇱ Qwen 3 30B A3B on Mac Studio M2 Ultra 64GB? YES

Can Qwen 3 30B A3B run on Mac Studio M2 Ultra 64GB?

YES — Runs Great

S95Excellent
○Estimated from fit model

Qwen 3 30B A3B needs ~27.8 GB VRAM. Mac Studio M2 Ultra 64GB has 46.1 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~91 tok/s.

Runtime: MLXCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: HighStack: OptimizedBottleneck: Balanced
Share:

Operating mode

Choose the run profile you care about

Interactive favors responsiveness, while light API and scale-out lean harder on serving readiness. The fit stays the same, but the recommendation lens changes.

Current mode

Balanced

Balanced for general local use. Keeps the ranking neutral across personal and serving workflows.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 27.8 GB, 91.2 tok/s, Runs well
27.8 GB required46.1 GB available
60% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

91.2 tok/s

TTFT

2123 ms

Safe context

131K

Memory

27.8 GB / 46.1 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights18.6 GB
KV Cache1.5 GB
Runtime0.8 GB
Headroom6.9 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsQwen 3 30B A3B on Mac Studio M2 Ultra 64GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Solve: If a train travels at 60 mph for 2.5 hours, how far does it go?
Let me work through this step by step. Given information: - Speed = 60 mph (miles per hour) - Time = 2.5 hours Formula: Distance = Speed x Time Calculation: Distance = 60 mph x 2.5 h = 150 miles The train travels 150 miles. Double-check: at 60 mph the train covers 60 miles each hour. In half an hour it covers 30 miles. So in 2.5 hours: 60 + 60 + 30 = 150 miles. Confirmed.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>What if the train stops for 20 minutes halfway?
The stop doesn't change the total distance covered while moving, but it affects total trip time. Breakdown: - First half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles - Stop: 20 minutes (no distance) - Second half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles Total distance: 150 miles (same) Total time: 2.5 h + 0.33 h = 2.83 hours Average speed: 150 / 2.83 = 53 mph The distance stays the same but average speed drops to 53 mph because of the stop.
Estimated: 91.2 tok/s decode · 2.1s TTFT (warm) · 228 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

Shared-memory contention still exists

The OS, browser, and inference runtime all compete for the same physical memory pool, so real-world headroom is less forgiving than raw capacity suggests.

Best improvement path

Performance by workload

WorkloadGradeFitDecodeTTFTContext
ChatSRuns well91.2 tok/s1158 ms131K
CodingSRuns well91.2 tok/s2123 ms131K
Agentic CodingSRuns well91.2 tok/s3087 ms131K
ReasoningSRuns well91.2 tok/s2508 ms131K
RAGSRuns well91.2 tok/s3859 ms131K

Quantization options

How Qwen 3 30B A3B (30.5B params) fits at each quantization level on Mac Studio M2 Ultra 64GB (46.1 GB usable).

QuantBitsVRAMQualityFit
Q2_K
2
11.9 GB
LowA84
Q3_K_S
3
14.9 GB
LowS85
NVFP4
4
17.1 GB
MediumS86
Q4_K_M
4
18.6 GB
MediumS87
Q5_K_M
5
22.0 GB
HighS88
Q6_K
6
25.0 GB
HighS89
Q8_0Best for your GPU
8
32.6 GB
Very HighS88
F16
16
62.5 GB
MaximumF0

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Qwen 3 30B A3B on your machine.

Run

ollama run qwen3:30b-a3b

Your hardware

More models your Mac Studio M2 Ultra 64GB can run

ModelParamsGradeDecodeCapabilities
👁 Alibaba
Qwen 3.6 35B A3B		35BS76.7 tok/s
👁 Alibaba
Qwen 3.5 35B A3B		35BS83.4 tok/s
👁 Alibaba
Qwen 3 32B		32BS30.5 tok/s

Frequently asked questions

See all results for Mac Studio M2 Ultra 64GBSee all hardware for Qwen 3 30B A3B